Independent MP Bob Such is defending his private member's bill in South Australia which could see any face covering banned from some public buildings.

Dr Such says women wearing the Islamic burka can get a driver's licence or withdraw money from a bank without showing their faces.

If his bill passes, people wearing coverings including helmets, ski masks and burkas would not be allowed inside buildings where there is any security risk.

Dr Such says burkas could be used by criminals to hide their identities.

A man was robbed in Sydney recently by a burka-clad bandit wearing sunglasses.

"You have to use a bit of common sense and in places where you need security and identity and where it's essential, then to me it's common sense that you require a person as a condition of entry that they uncover their face," Dr Such said.

The South Australian Government says any move to ban the burka from some public buildings would be a heavy-handed approach.

SA Multicultural Affairs Minister Grace Portolesi says police have advised the Government that wearing a burka is not a community safety or security concern.

"I think we're looking at a very heavy-handed approach to a problem that actually doesn't exist," she said.

A New South Wales MP was accused of harvesting the bigot vote when he introduced a similar bill to Parliament there this month.

Ms Portolesi says it is a women's right to choose what she wears.

"Do we want the state telling people what to wear? There are other items of clothing that I find offensive but I don't have a right to demand that they be made illegal," she said.

Dr Such says he has no intention of stopping someone's religious expression, but the Muslim Women's Association believes the bill directly targets such women.

It says there are other ways of resolving the issue, such as use of electronic screening.

It's a fundamental human yearning to be a part of something bigger than one's self, and maybe that's what drove my mate Ash to die, far from home, in a bloody foreign war against Islamic State, writes C August Elliott.